12/26/07

Chan class starts with a bow. When we bow, it is like the river bowing to the mountain and whatever wealth the mountain has of will surely come down to the river. If we are high and mighty like the mountain on the other hand, nothing can come to us but if we humble and lower ourselves like the river, this calmness and clarity of mind will naturally accept the flow or whatever benefits that are necessary for life. It is in this natural process of calming the mind that allows True Nature to pass all the wealth down to the practitioner. The teacher makes the same respect and also returns the bow to the students and to their future students that they will be teaching .

Humbly I prostrate myself before the Buddhas of the ten quarters' and the excellent company of Bodhisattvas. In setting forth this treatise, I am apprehensive that I may fail correctly to interpret the sacred mind. if so, may I be given a chance for repentance and reform. However, if I do succeed in imparting the sacred truth, I dedicate the resultant merit to all living beings in the hope that each of them will attain Buddhahood in their next life.

A student asked a question about his experience in the method of Silent Illumination. During meditation, he described being aware of thoughts passing by (without paying attention to them) while maintaining a sense of calm through adherence to the method. This experience relates to the teaching of Master Hui Hai in last week's lecture.

Q: What does mind resemble?

A: Mind has no colour, such as green or yellow, red or white; it is not long or short; it does not vanish or appear; it is free from purity and impurity alike; and its duration is eternal. It is utter stillness. Such, then, is the form and shape of our original mind, which is also our original body - the Buddhakaya!

Q: By what means do this body or mind perceive? Can they perceive with the eyes, ears, nose, sense of touch and consciousness?

A: No, there are not several means of perception like that.

Even if there is no ego, personality, life or being (as represented by the eyes, ears, nose, or sense of touch or consciousness) we still cannot negate these appearances in mind. As we navigate through life with these appearances, one only needs to be certain and perfectly aware that these appearances are occurring nowhere else but in mind and that they are occurring according to the causes and conditions at work at that present time. There was an ancient Hawaiian mariner's way of navigating through hundreds and perhaps even thousands of square miles of the Pacific Ocean by intuition. The navigator simply looks for patterns in the ocean; the prevailing winds, ocean current, wave pattern, their directions and why these patterns happen as they do. Through the totality of these appearances, the navigator is able to discern which direction the boat should go. With calmness obtained through clarity of mind, this ancient mariner was able to see precisely where an island is inside a hundred square miles of ocean water. This is precisely Chan at work.

Q: Then, what sort of perception is involved, since it is unlike any of those already mentioned?

A: It is perception by means of your own nature (sva-bhava). How so? Because your own nature being essentially pure and utterly still, its immaterial and motionless 'sub-stance' is capable of this perception."'

This is nothing like the conscious type of perception that uses the sense organs of eyes, ears, nose and touch. Beyond this conscious type is the True nature which does not interfere with what is going on around. Perception by this utterly still, immaterial and motionless nature is capable of this type of perception. True Nature has been this way for enumerable eons.

Q: Yet, since that pure 'substance' cannot be found, where does such perception come from?

A: We may liken it to a bright mirror which, though it contains no forms, can nevertheless 'perceive' all forms. Why? just because it is free from mental activity. if you students of the Way had minds unstained," they would not give rise to falsehood and their attachment to the subjective ego and to objective externals would vanish; then purity would arise of itself and you would thereby be capable of such perception. The Dharmapada Sutra says: 'To establish ourselves amid perfect voidness in a single flash is excellent wisdom indeed!'

Q: According to the Vajra-body chapter of the Maha-parinirvana Sutra: 'The (indestructible) diamond-body" is imperceptible, yet it clearly perceives; it is free from discerning and yet there is nothing which it does not comprehend.' What does this mean?

A: It is imperceptible because its own nature is a formless' substance' which is intangible; hence it is called' imperceptible'; and, since it is intangible, this 'substance' is observed to be profoundly still and neither vanishing nor appearing. Though not apart from our world, it cannot be influenced by the worldly stream; it is self-possessed and sovereign, which is the reason why it clearly perceives. It is free from discerning in that its own nature is formless and basically undifferentiated. Its comprehending every-thing means that the undifferentiated 'substance' is endowed with functions as countless as the sands of the Ganges; and, if all phenomena were to be discerned simultaneously, it would comprehend all of them without exception. In the Prajna Gatha it is written: Prajna, unknowing, knoweth all, Prajna, unseeing, seeth all.

Perception using a narrow bandwidth can only perceive things on the surface level. This is the conscious type of perception that uses the sense organs of eyes, ears, nose and touch. The imperceptible uses a wider bandwidth so that awareness and function can flow more effectively and at a much faster rate. True Nature can see without seeing, hear without listening and know without knowing because it simply follows function and does not interfere with causes and conditions. The mirror reflects everything without interfering. Mind functions in the same manner, practitioners simply need to learn not to interfere. Contradictions only appear when the mind is apprehending/interfering. When mind is calm, contradictions disappear but mind is clear about its messages. Navigating through life is this way. When mind is at rest, mind is more aware, more efficient and can process faster thoughts.

Q: There is a sutra which says that not to perceive anything in terms of being or nonbeing is true deliverance. What does it mean?

A: When we attain to purity of mind, that is something which can be said to exist. When this happens, our remaining free from any thought of achievement is called 'not perceiving anything as existent'; while reaching the state in which no thoughts arise or persist, yet without being conscious of their absence, is called 'not perceiving anything as nonexistent'. So it is written: 'Not to perceive anything in terms of being and nonbeing,' etc. The Shurangama Sutra says: 'Perceptions employed as a base for building up positive concepts are the origin of all ignorance (avidya);" perception that there is nothing to perceive - that is nirvana, also known as deliverance.'

The boat to Nirvana does not exist as long as the mind clings to the idea of perception and non-perception. Dwelling in the idea of either existence or emptiness is irrelevant. In clinging to existence, mind is perceiving this thought and when it clings to emptiness, mind is still using thoughts of perception. Chan is thinking outside the box. Rest the mind from these perceptible thoughts. When mind is calm, it is resting in the state that there is nothing to perceive. That is Nirvana according to Hui- Hai.

Q: What is the meaning of 'nothing to perceive'?

A: Being able to behold men, women and all the various sorts of appearances while remaining as free from love or aversion as if they were actually not seen at all - that is what is meant by 'nothing to perceive'.

Q: That which occurs when we are confronted by all sorts of shapes and forms is called 'perception'. Can we speak of perception taking place when nothing confronts us?

A: Yes.

Q: When something confronts us, it follows that we perceive it, but how can there be perception when we are confronted by nothing at all?

A: We are now talking of that perception which is independent of there being an object or not. How can that be? The nature of perception being eternal, we go on perceiving whether objects are present or not." Thereby we come to understand that, whereas objects naturally appear and disappear, the nature of perception does neither of those things; and it is the same with all your other senses.

The self always want to look around for anything to perceive. "Looki-loos" always want to stop and see what is going on when there is an accident on the freeway. The accident has nothing to do with them but the self always want to perceive what is going on. Master Sheng-Yen has a student who told him that she hopes that she would pass away before Master Sheng-Yen does. When Master Sheng-Yen asked her why, she said, "if you pass away first, I would miss you." Master Sheng-Yen lovingly and wisely told her that if she dies before him, he would not miss her. This is a good example and what is meant by "nothing to perceive." Life is transitory and all things change. This is the nature of all things. True nature does not interfere with what is going on, it simply follows its function.Writer's comments: Controlled environment during meditation allows the cogitating mind to rest. In time and when causes and conditions begin to ripen, the non-arising mind slowly emerges from the background like a silent monitor watching over the arising thoughts without interfering; just simply aware of what are arising. When the method slowly vanishes and awareness begins, it is even more important at this point to exercise deeper relaxation of body and mind. It is the sincere practice of Dhyana that brings forth Samadhi. Navigation by intuition practiced by ancient Hawaiian mariners is likened to the way that wild geese are able to determine when to fly south before the approaching winter and back north during the spring. Hummingbirds do the same and King Salmons instinctively know when to return to their exact place of birth. Calm mind sharpens intuition and instincts. These bird and fish species are better at it because the self does not get in the way. The Sutra (of the Doctrine Bequeathed by the Buddha) says:"just by mind control, all things become possible to us." True Nature can see without seeing, hear without listening and know without knowing.~Class summary courtesy of Rick Cabrera